This is a players guide intended for beginners players of all skill levels to cover every aspect of the game which is not related to the plots, which are covered in their own dedicated guides (Missions).
| Table of Contents |
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Choice of starting scenario
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- The list of currently active missions showing the current ojective for each mission, difficulty, reward and time remaining to complete the mission. Left click individual missions to view the full mission briefing, toggle guidance or abort the mission.
My Property
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- A list of player owned assets that can be used to send commands to specific assets. This will be used frequently once the player owns multiple ships.
- All: Shows all player owned assets in alphabetical order grouped by sector
- Stations: Only shows player owned stations and complexes in alphabetical order grouped by sector
- Ships: Only shows player owned ships in alphabetical order grouped by sector
- Wings: Only shows player owned ships that have been assigned to a wing
- Sectors: Lists all sectors that the player has assets in. Once the player has a setellite network established this menu becomes meaningless.
- Personnel: All Marines, Mercenaries and Pilots owned by the player, where they are and what they are currently doing. Personnel performing boarding operations appear at the top of the list. Use this menu to know if a boarding operation is going badly and the previous save needs to be loaded.
- Statistics: A condensed list of player owned assets by categories.
- Options: Shows or hides ships based on wing/fleet leader/escort roles and stats shown
Shows or hides specific ship classes
Has options to show ships by assigned tasks
Determines what warnings are shown
Has filters for personnel shown
At the bottom is the toggle for grouping ships by sector. It is recommended to keep this on.
My Pilot Status
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- Lists current Credits owned by the player, player Trade and Fight ranks, Race Ranks with encountered races, player kill counts, owned police
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- licences and salvage insurance and miscellaneous statistics done by the player
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My Wings
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- Opens the Wing Management menu which shows all player owned ships
- Filter Options
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- : Allows filtering by class or current wing
- Sorting Options
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- : Sorts the list by current Wing or ship Class
- Ships
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- : Left click to add ships to one of 8 wings or 4 SEWN Sector signal connected wings
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Stock Exchanges
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- View Local Stock Exchanges
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- : Opens the menu for selecting local Stock Exchanges for trading natural product and other ware shares. Stock Exchanges only appear if the player ship has docked at the stock exchange and met the criteria for trading at that Stock Exchange and the player has an asset in the sector with the Stock Exchange station. Useful for seeing what wares are available in a group of sectors.
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- Corporate/Company indexes
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- : Opens the menu for trading corporate and company shares.
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- Detailed Summary Of Shares Owned
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- : List of shares owned and in what stock market region.
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- View Commodities Transaction Report
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- : Log of share transactions done in the local Stock Exchanges.
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- View Corporate Transaction Report
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- : Log of corporate share transactions
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- View Company Transaction Report
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- : Log of company share transactions
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- Broker Settings
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- : Options for adjusting the stock exchange UI. In general the player does not need to alter this.
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My Message Log
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- View message Log
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- : Views all past messages received from plots, missions, ships and Marine/Mercenary training sessions (unless deleted).
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- New Entry
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- : Adds a custom log message for role playing or reminder purposes.
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- Clear Logs
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- : Deletes all previous messages
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My Achievements
- List of Steam achievements
- How to obtain is covered under the Achievements section
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Advanced
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- Global Commands
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- : Adjusts the settings of all player owned ships
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- Global Friend-Foe
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- : Sets the Friend-Foe settings of each race for all ships. Affects if player ships will begin combat with NPC ships or ignore them.
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- Transmit To
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- : Sends commands to all player owned ships. This becomes less useful if the player has a diverse range of ship roles.
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- Wing Control
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- : Opens the same menu as My Wings.
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- Global Missile Resupply
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- : Sets the missile resupply amounts for all ships. This is only useful when the player does not have several different classes of missile using ships.
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- Encyclopaedia
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- Database of stations, ships and wares encountered by the player ship. The location of wares and stations for sale only appear if the player ship has docked at the station selling them. Other player owned ships used for exploration will not contribute to the
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- encyclopaedia.
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- Useful for finding what stations sell stuff.
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- Change Name
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- Allows the player to change the name of their avatar from the Starting Scenario default name.
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- Enter Thereshallbewings to enable the script editor
- All Tips
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- Allows the player to look over tips given early on in the game. Only useful for forgetful players.
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- Export Statistics
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- Exports the statistics for the playthrough as an xml file for posting on the Egosoft Player Rankings page (https://www.egosoft.com/games/x3ap/statistics_en.php) at https://www.egosoft.com/games/x3ap/uplink_en.php .
- Only do this if you have a playthrough you are proud of.
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- Graphs
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- Displays one of several graphs showing player progress and assets over time.
Navigation
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Sector Map
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- Opens the map of the sector with a list of discovered stations and assets in the scanner range of player owned ships listed to the right.
- Default view is from the +Y axis.
- Areas within scanner range are a paler colour (2D view of maximum diameter), friendly NPC and abandoned assets are blue, player owned assets are green and hostile assets are red.
- Press the Insert key to swap to a view from the -Z axis (useful for station and satellite placement).
- Does not show missiles.
- If there is an Advanced Satellite in the sector the camera icon at the top right of the map to the left of the zoom buttons can be used to give a 3D rendition of the sector if in sector.
- The default zoom is the sector diameter.
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Universe Map
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- Map of the explored X-universe. Left clicking a sector will go to the sector map for that sector.
- Pressing a letter key will open the search filter (although it is equally fast to navigate manually).
- Typing in "Do a barrel roll" spins the universe map a few times.
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Jumpdrive
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- Requires a Jump Drive equipment ware to be installed on the ship to show.
- Left clicking or using the hotkey (Shift + J) will go to the universe map showing sectors able to be jumped to as flashing white brackets and the jump cost in Energy Cells shown in the upper right of the screen. Left clicking a sector will go to the sector map of the sector and the player can select a Jump Gate or Jump Beacon to jump to. If the ship lacks enough Energy Cells the ship will not be able to jump. After selecting a jump target there is a 10 second delay before jumping to the target sector.
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Unfocussed Jump
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- Requires the Unfocussed Jump Drive obtained from the plots (starting scenario dependent). Uses Energy Cells to jump to the randomly generated Unknown Sector. Useful for obtaining the Aran, PALCs and
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- Pandora Tunings.
- All assets left in the Unknown Sector are destroyed when returning to the known universe.
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Best Buys Locator
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- Requires the Best Buys Locator equipment ware.
- Sets the
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- autopilot to go to the cheapest selling station for the selected ware within a selected jump range.
- Only useful in the early game before the player gets Trade Command Softwares for automating TS ships.
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Best Selling Price Locator
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- Requires the Best Selling Price Locator equipment ware.
- Sets the
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- autopilot to go to the most expensive buying selling station for the selected ware within a selected jump range.
- Only useful in the early game before the player gets Trade Command Softwares for automating TS ships.
Current Ship
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Info
- Lists the
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- encyclopaedia information of the current player ship. Useful for remembering laser and missile
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- compatibilities
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Autopilot
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- Command Console
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- Navigation
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- Standby
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- : Cancels current commands and gets the ship to come to a stop. Will engage attacking ships.
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- Idle
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- : Ship will wander aimlessly around the sector when the player ship is In Sector. Will not respond to attacks.
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- Dock At My Target
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- : Orders the commanded player owned ship to dock at the ship/station currently selected by left mouse click of the player ship.
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- Dock At
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- : Orders the ship to fly to and dock at a designated ship/station. Opens the Universe Map
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- centred on the sector the ship is currently in.
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- Fly To Sector
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- : Orders the ship to fly to the designated sector on the Universe Map. The ship will enter Standby once it is a short distance from the jump gate in the designated sector.
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- Follow
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- : Orders the ship to follow the designated ship.
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- Follow Me
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- : Orders the ship to follow the player ship.
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- Return Home
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- : Makes the ship return to the assigned Home Base if it has one.
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- Move To Position
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- : Orders the ship to fly to the designated position in the Sector Map. Use the num pad (2, 4, 6 or 8) or left mouse click the map to move the destination position. Opens the Universe Map
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- centred on the sector the ship is currently in.
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- Move To Coordinates: (WIP)
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- Fly Through Gate: (WIP)
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- Map Sector: (WIP)
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- Scan Asteroids: (WIP)
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- Jump To Sector (Jumpdrive required)
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- : Orders the ship to jump to the designated sector on the Universe Map. The ship will enter Standby once it is a short distance from the jump gate in the designated sector. If the ship does not have enough Energy Cells to jump the complete distance it will jump to the sector closest to the destination and fly the rest of the way.
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- Jump and Fly To Station: (WIP)
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- Jump and Fly To Pos: (WIP)
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- Jump To Me (other player owned ships): (WIP)
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- Combat
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- Attack
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- : Orders the ship to attack the designated target
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- Attack All Enemies
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- : Systematically attacks all ships set to Foe under the Adjust Friend-Foe setting in the sector until there are no more targets in the sector.
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- Protect
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- : Orders the ship to protect the designated ship/station and attack ships attacking it. Weapon System: Missile Defence Mosquito (C) will use Mosquito Missiles to intercept missiles heading towards the protected ship. Turrets of the protecting ship set to Missile Defence or Missiles Only will try to intercept missiles targeting the ship it is trying to protect.
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- Protect Me (Other ships only): (WIP)
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- Attack My Target
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- : Orders the ship to attack the ship/station currently selected by left mouse click of the player ship.
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- Attack Nearest Enemy Of
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- : Orders the ship to attack the nearest ship/station that is hostile to the designated ship/station
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- Defend Position
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- : Orders the ship to attack any hostile ships that approach within 10km of the designated point. Ships with this command will patrol the sphere of space around the point. Opens the Universe Map
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- centred on the sector the ship is currently in.
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- Defend Station
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- : Orders the ship to attack any hostile ships that approach within 10km of the designated station. Ships with this command will patrol a 10km radius sphere of space around the station. Opens the Universe Map centered on the sector the ship is currently in.
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- Defend Sector
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- : Orders the ship to attack any hostile ships that are in or enter the designated sector. Opens the Universe Map centered on the sector the ship is currently in. This command is not advisable for lone ships as they will attack ships that they cannot handle. This order is continuous until cancelled.
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- Attack Target Of
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- : Orders the ship to attack the targets of the designated ship.
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- Attack Shields Of
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- : Orders the ship to attack the designated target but stop once the shields are down. A useful command for preparing ships to board. As the ship given this command will only stop shooting when the target shields are down there still will be some hull damage.
- Attack enemy and land: (WIP)
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- Attack All enemies, land: (WIP)
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- Attack Fighters
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- : Systematically attacks all fighter ships set to Foe under the Adjust Friend-Foe setting in the sector.
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- Attack Capital Ships
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- : Systematically attacks all capital ships set to Foe under the Adjust Friend-Foe setting in the sector.
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- Launch Fighter Attack: (WIP)
- Patrol Sectors: Orders the ship to patrol between the designated sectors using Attack All Enemies in each sector visited and moving to the next sector if no more enemies are present.
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- Retreat
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- : (WIP)
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- Trade
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- Manual Trade Run
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- : Opens the Universe Map allowing the player to select a station and ware to buy before opening the universe map again to select a station to sell at. There is then a final yes/no window to order the ship to repeat the run indefinitely or not.
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- Remote Best Buy: (WIP)
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- Remote Best Sell: (WIP)
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- Manual Trade Buy
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- : Opens the Universe Map allowing the player to select a station and ware to buy before opening a window to input a number to buy
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- Manual trade Sell
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- : Opens the Universe Map allowing the player to select a station and ware to sell before opening a window to input a number to sell
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- Mine and Trade Minerals: (WIP)
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- Buy Ware For Best Price
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- : Buys as many units of the selected ware for the best price within ? (WIP) sectors
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- Buy Ware
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- : Buys the inputted amount of the specified ware from the specified station
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- Sell Ware For Best Price
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- : Sells as many units of the selected ware for the best price within ?
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- (WIP) sectors
- Sell Ware
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- : Sells the inputted amount of the specified ware at the specified
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- station
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- Transfer Freight via Drones
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- : Requires at least one Freight Drone in the cargo hold. Transfers or buys/sells the specified number of ware from the target/ship cargo. Able to be used to obtain PBCs from deploying laser towers and for some dupe methods.
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- (WIP)
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- Start commercial representation: (WIP)
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- Start external commodity logistics: (WIP)
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- Start external Commodity Logistics
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- : (WIP)
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- Special
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- Collect Wares In Sector
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- : Orders the ship to continually search for wares to collect in the designated sector. Opens the Universe Map
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- centred on the sector the ship is currently in.
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- Collect Ware
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- : Orders the ship to collect a specific ware. Opens the Universe Map centered on the sector the ship is currently in.
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- Collect Astronaut
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- : Orders the ship to collect a specific Astronaut which can be a bailed passenger or a Marine/Mercenary from a boarding operation.
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- Drop Station
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- : Requires a TL with a station in the freight and Special Command Software. Must be In Sector for the command to appear. Opens the sector map to allow placement/rotation of the selected station using the num pad. Hit the Return key to confirm placement.
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- Collect Rocks In Sector
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- : Orders the ship to collect the smallest rocks from debris in the designated sector.
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- Resupply Ships: (WIP)
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- Rearm Ships: (WIP)
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- Refuel Ships: (WIP)
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- Equip Ships Like: (WIP)
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- Mine Minerals
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- : Orders the ship to break up and collect the specified mineral from rocks and debris in the designated sector and deliver them to the specified station (if any).
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- Require player owned stations to be set as the Home Base to unload free of charge.
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- TS ships given a laser will break up larger rocks while those with a Mobile Mining System will destroy unclaimed asteroids for resources
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- A TS using this order is equivalent to 0.18x Ore and 0.79x Silicon Wafer productivity if travel time to the destination station is
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- excluded
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- Piracy
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- Board Ship: (WIP)
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- Select Ship: (WIP)
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- General
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- Administration Commercial Agent: (WIP)
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- Administration: (WIP)
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- Sector production overview: (WIP)
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- Sector production overview including standalone factories: (WIP)
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- Global Configuration: (WIP)
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- Station Settings
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- Station Status
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- : Allows the factory production to the toggled on or off
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- Money Transfer: (WIP)
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- Pricing: (WIP)
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- Pricing Disabled: (WIP)
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- Restore Pricing: (WIP)
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- Wares: (WIP)
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- Complex Settings
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- Products
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- : Shows production vs
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- consumption of products.
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- Toggles the ware classification as a product or intermediate product
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- Intermediate Products
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- : Shows production vs
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- consumption of intermediate products
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- Toggles the ware classification as a product or intermediate product
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- Resources
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- : Shows production vs
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- consumption of resources
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- Factories
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- : Shows all factories in the complex and allows the factory production to the toggled on or off
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- Administration Commodity Logistics
- Administration Commodity Logistics
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- Administration global configuration internal Commodity Logistics: (WIP)
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- Data storage: (WIP)
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- Select Data: (WIP)
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- Move Data: (WIP)
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- Delete Data: (WIP)
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- Send Configuration: (WIP)
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- Send to sector colleagues: (WIP)
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- Send to all
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- colleagues: (WIP)
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- Send filter: (WIP)
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- Send Filter: (WIP)
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- Ship type: (WIP)
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- Ship class: (WIP)
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- Ship name: (WIP)
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- New homebase: (WIP)
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- Data selection: (WIP)
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- Supplier: (WIP)
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- Consumer: (WIP)
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- Homebase products: (WIP)
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- Price of product: (WIP)
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- Minimum storage space filled - supplier: (WIP)
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- Minimum storage space filled - consumer: (WIP)
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- Freighter cargo bay: (WIP)
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- Fly to supplier only: (WIP)
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- Dock with ship only in the same sector: (WIP)
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- Wait for request signal: (WIP)
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- Quit working in home base: (WIP)
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- Take training: (WIP)
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- Trader salary: (WIP)
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- Jump Drive Energy: (WIP)
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- Configure automatic naming: (WIP)
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- Ship number: (WIP)
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- Configure reports: (WIP)
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- Acoustic signals at messages: (WIP)
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- Trade log: (WIP)
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- Send filter
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- : (WIP)
- Reset: (WIP)
- Administration global configuration external Commodity Logistics
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- : Same options as internal
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- List of ships with CLS
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- Trader Settings
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- Delete Account Information: (WIP)
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- Take Training
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- : Toggles if the pilot levels up or not
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- Trader Salary
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- : Toggles if the trader uses the player or home base account to pay the pilot
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- Fire trader
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- : Resets the pilot level
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- . Only do this if very short on credits
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- Reassign Trader
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- : Swaps the pilot to another ship
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- Waypoints
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- List of waypoints
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- Waypoints
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- Add station
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- : Opens the Universe Map to select a sector and station before opening a window to Buy/Sell/Load/Unload/Refuel jump energy/Fly to station. Clicking one of the first 4 options opens a window of possible wares to perform the action on.
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- Buy
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- Manual price setting: (WIP)
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- Minimum product price: (WIP)
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- Average product price: (WIP)
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- Maximum product price: (WIP)
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- Sell
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- Manual price setting: (WIP)
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- Minimum product price: (WIP)
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- Average product price: (WIP)
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- Maximum product price: (WIP)
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- Load
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- Manual input: (WIP)
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- Manual
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- input up to: (WIP)
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- Maximum cargo space: (WIP)
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- Half cargo space: (WIP)
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- Half
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- cargo space up to: (WIP)
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- Unload: (WIP)
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- Refuel jump energy: (WIP)
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- Fly to station: (WIP)
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- Add ship: (WIP)
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- Delete all waypoints: (WIP)
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- Restore Defaults: (WIP)
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- Generate Waypoints
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- : Opens a window to input a number before selecting a ware category and specific ware followed by Buy/Sell/Load/Unload and amount before automatically generating waypoints.
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- Avoid this generally
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- Supply Conditions
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- Minimum transfer amount on collection: (WIP)
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- Minimum transfer amount on delivery: (WIP)
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- Dock with ship only in the same sector: (WIP)
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- Wait for request signal: (WIP)
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- Quit working at station: (WIP)
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- Restore defaults: (WIP)
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- Jump Drive settings
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- Use Jump
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- Drive: Toggles if the ship using CLS will use the jump drive to get between sectors if equipped
- Jump Drive Energy
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- : Sets the amount of freight reserved for Energy Cells as jump fuel
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- Minimum Jump Range
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- : Minimum number of sectors needing to be traversed to trigger a jump
- Restore defaults: (WIP)
- Automatic naming: (WIP)
- Configure automatic naming: (WIP)
- Ship number: (WIP)
- Factory number: (WIP)
- Restore defaults: (WIP)
- Data storage: (WIP)
- Load data: (WIP)
- Save data: (WIP)
- Delete data: (WIP)
- Restore defaults: (WIP)
- Broadcast to my ships in the sector
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- : Sends a command to all ships of the specified type in the player sector. If no ships of that type are present in the sector the option will be unable to be selected
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- Broadcast: Sector: Wingmen
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- : Commands all ships in a wing
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- Broadcast: Sector: M5/M4/M3 Ships
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- : Commands smaller fight ship types
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- Broadcast: Sector: M6/M7 Ships
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- : Commands larger fight ship types
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- Broadcast: Sector: M5/M4/M3/M6/M7 Ships
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- : Commands most fight ship types
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- Broadcast: Sector: TS/TP Ships
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- : Commands most trader ship types
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- Broadcast: Sector: M5/M4/M3/M6/M7/TS/TP Ships
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- : Commands most ship types
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- Broadcast: Sector:
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- Fighter Drones
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- : Commands all fighter drones
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- Useful if several have been manually ejected
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- Turret Control
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- None
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- : Sets the turret to do nothing
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- Not recommended
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- Turret: Attack Enemies
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- : Attacks any enemies in range of the turret lasers. Has a problem of drawing additional enemies into fights and depleting laser energy without finishing off single targets
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- Turret: Protect Ship
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- : Only attacks ships that attack the ship.
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- Turret: Attack My Target
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- : Only attacks ships selected by the player left clicking.
- Useful for forward facing turrets
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- Turret: Missiles Only
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- : Only fires at missiles aiming for the ship or ships being protected.
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- Turret: Missile Defence
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- : Prioritises missiles aiming for the ship or ships being protected but will also shoot at ships which attack the ship.
- Recommended for general use.
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- Turret: Attack Fighters
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- : Prioritises attacking hostile fighters and bombers.
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- Turret: Attack Capitals
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- : Prioritises attacking hostile corvettes and capital ships
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- Additional Ship Commands
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- None
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- Launch All Marines
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- : Launches all Marine/Mercenary personnel in the freight. Ignores the current target shields.
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- Weapon System: Missile Defence Mosquito
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- : Automatically uses Mosquito Missiles in the freight to intercept missiles targeting the ship
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- Weapon System: Missile Defence Mosquito (C)
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- : Automatically uses Mosquito Missiles in the freight to intercept missiles targeting the ship, ships that are set to use the ship as a homebase and other ships being protected by the ship
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- Configuration
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- Wingman
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- : (WIP)
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- Hide From Property Menu
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- : Toggles if the ship appears in the Property menu
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- Useful for decluttering
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- universal traders and fleet escort ships from the menu
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- Notify Me When Order Completed
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- : Toggles if a message is sent to the message log when the current order for the ship is completed
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- It is recommended to toggle this on by default
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- Formation
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- : Determines if ships set to follow or protect this ship follow in a V or X formation behind it
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- Missile Fire Probability
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- : Probability of the ship using a missile every 10 seconds against a target In Sector when ordered to attack on autopilot
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- Set to either 0 or 100 depending if you want to use missiles or not since numbers
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- in between can be too unpredictable
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- Home Base
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- : Sets the player owned ship/station to act as a homebase for the ship. The ship uses the credits of the home base station instead of the player account for any transactions performed when ordered to act as a CAG or Sector/Universal
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- Trader
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- Clear Homebase Setting
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- : Sets the home base to the default of none
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- Fleet Control: (WIP)
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- Become A Fleet Commander: (WIP)
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- View N ship in fleet: (WIP)
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- Assign new fleet commander: (WIP)
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- Disband fleet: (WIP)
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- Wing Control
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- Add To Wing
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- : Add the ship to one of the 12 wings
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- Flight Wing
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- : Toggles the wing the ship is in
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- Flight Wing Management
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- Filter Options
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- Display only ships already in this wing: (WIP)
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- Disply only ships of this class: (WIP)
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- Sorting Options
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- Sort ships by: (WIP)
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- Ships
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- : The ships in the wing
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- Advanced Jumpdrive Configuration
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- Autojump
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- : Toggles automatic use of the Jump Drive when the ship is given orders for another sector
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- Autojump Minimum Jump Range
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- : If the ship is given an order to move to another sector this is the minimum jump distance before the ship will automatically try to jump to the destination sector instead of just flying there
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- Emergency Jump
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- : Toggles if the ship will try to perform an emergency jump if attacked. Not able to be relied on.
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- Emergency Jump Shield Threshold
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- : The Shield % that will trigger an emergency jump if attacks cause the ship to fall below the threshold
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- Fuel Resupply Quantity (jumps)
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- : How many jumps the ship is willing to jump to refuel on Energy Cells (0-?)
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- Adjust Friend-Foe
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- Set from global settings
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- : Sets the friend foe settings of the ship to those under Global Commands
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- Show as enemy if enemy to me
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- : Shows ships as foe (red) if they see the player as a foe
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- Attack all enemies
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- : Tells the player ship to attack all enemies in the sector using autopilot. Should not be used by any player able to fly or aim.
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Freight
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- Lists all freight and equipment on the player ship. Left clicking specific freight wares allows them to be ejected (eg. drones, Lasertowers and satellites).
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Advanced
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- Weapons
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- : Allows manipulation of what slot has what Laser equipped
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- Info
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- : Lists the
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- encyclopaedia information of the selected laser.
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- Uninstall Laser
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- : Removes the lasers from the
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- selected laser slot back into the freight hold
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- Install Laser
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- : Installs a laser from the freight hold into the selected laser slot
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- Add/Remove from Group 1-4
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- : Links specific groups of lasers in the Main laser battery to a hotkey. Useful for swapping between specialised lasers like Mass Drivers and Ion Disrupters.
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- Remove from all Groups
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- : Removes the laser slot from all hotkey groups
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- Change Ship
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- : Swaps the player ship with another player owned ship. Requires both the player ship and the new ship to be docked at the same ship/station or the new ship to be docked at the player ship. Only able to be performed in space within 4.5km of the new ship if the player has a Transporter Device on one of the ships. Changing to a docked ship immediately launches it.
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- Freight Exchange
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- : Exchanges wares and equipment with the selected ship. Requires both the player ship and the other ship to be docked at the same ship/station or one ship to be docked at the other ship. Only able to be performed in space within 4.5km of the other ship if the player has a Transporter Device on one of the ships.
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- Best Buys Locator
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- : See Navigation section Best Buys Locator
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- Best Selling Price Locator
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- : See Navigation section Best Selling Price Locator
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- Rename
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- : Renames the player ship
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- Useful if the player owns multiple ships of the same type.
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- Self Destruct
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- : Sets the player ship to self destruct. Complete waste of resources since ships can be sold for credits at shipyards or recycled at the PHQ if unwanted.
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- Graphs: (WIP) ???
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Landed Ships
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- Ships landed at the player ship
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Locate In Sector Map
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- Opens the sector map and selects the player ship
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Display On Monitor
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- Displays the ship on the left or right monitor.
Target
Commands for the selected ship, station, ware, asteroid, debris or other selectable object
Adjust Station Parameters
See Station>Adjust Station Parameters
Orders
Comms
Tries to communicate with the selected ship or station if the player ship is within 25km. Useful for accepting missions and "apologising for friendly fire" with hostile ships but othwerwise limited outside of plots.
Claim Ship
Gives the player ownership of the abandoned ship
Requires the player ship to be within 40m of the target ship
Only able to be performed by the player Astronaut ship type Space Suit and ships with the System Overide Software
Enter Ship
Makes the target player owned ship the player ship
Only able to be performed when ejected and in control of the player Astronaut ship type Space Suit
Scan
Requires the Freight Scanner or Mineral Scanner equipment ware and the player ship to be within 4.5km of the target ship or 10km of the target asteroid. Freight Scanner reveals the freight of the target NPC ship to the player along with Laser installations and current commands when within scan range. Use of a Freight Scanner in a sector owned by a major race without the approtriate police license will cost 1% Race Rank. Mineral Scanner reveals the mineral type and yield of the target asteroid.
Freight
Lists all freight and equipment on the selected ship. NPC ships require to be scanned first to show their freight. Left clicking specific freight wares on player owned ship allows them to be ejected (eg. drones, Lasertowers and satellites).
Advanced
Weapons
Allows manipulation of what slot has what Laser equipped
Info
Lists the encyclopedia information of the selected laser.
Uninstall Laser
Removes the lasers from the seleted laser slot back into the freight hold
Install Laser
Installs a laser from the freight hold into the selected laser slot
Add/Remove from Group 1-4
Links specific groups of lasers in the Main laser battery to a hotkey. Useful for swapping between specialised lasers like Mass Drivers and Ion Disrupters.
Remove from all Groups
Removes the laser slot from all hotkey groups
Change Ship
Swaps the player ship with another player owned ship. Requires both the player ship and the new ship to be docked at the same station. Only able to be performed in space within 4.5km of the new ship if the player has a Transporter Device on one of the ships.
Freight Exchange
Tells a player owned ship which is not the player ship to exchange wares with the player ship. Requires the other ship to be docked at the same station or one ship to be docked at the other ship. Only able to be performed in space within 4.5km of the other ship if the player has a Transporter Device on one of the ships.
Freight Exchange With
Tells a player owned ship which is not the player ship to exchange wares with another player owned ship. Requires the other ship to be docked at the same station or one ship to be docked at the other ship. Only able to be performed in space within 4.5km of the other ship if the player has a Transporter Device on one of the ships.
Best Buys Locator
See Navigation section Best Buys Locator
Best Selling Price Locator
See Navigation section Best Selling Price Locator
Rename
Allows the target player owned ship to be renamed. Useful if the player owns multiple ships of the same type or is using them to follow a ship of interest.
Graphs
???
Connected Stations
Complexes only
Shows all connected stations in the complex and their status
Info
Advanced
Display On Monitor
Landed Ships
Ships landed at a ship or station
Owned Ships
NPC ships designated as escorts for the ship or ships that have the ship set as their Home Base.
Autopilot: Command Console
Command console for the target player owned ship. See Comamnd Console section for the Current Ship
Autopilot: Dock At
Tells the player ship to dock at the target station. Docking at a player owned ship immediately changes ship. Should not be used by players with a Docking Computer or if the station has docking clamps.
Autopilot: Fly To
Tells the player ship to fly closer to the target.
Autopilot: Fly Through
Tells the player ship to fly through the selected Jump Gate
Autopilot: Follow
Tells the player ship to follow the target ship using autopilot.
Autopilot: Attack
Tells the player ship to attack the target ship using autopilot. Should not be used by any player able to fly or aim.
Attack: Launch Marines (TP/M6/M7M with Marine/Mercenary in freight only)
TP, M6 and M7M only. Launches all carried marines at the target ship even if more are launched than can board the target ship.
Launch Marines
TP, M6 and M7M only. Launches all Marine/Mercenary personnel in the freight of the player ship for a boarding operation. Requires the target shields to be low enough for boarding.
Locate In Sector Map
Opens the sector map and selects the target ship
Display On Monitor
Displays the target on the left or right monitor.
Station
Info
Lists the encyclopedia information of the station docked at.
Adjust Station Parameters
Player owned stations and complexes only.
Products
Intermediate Products
Resources
Product Selling Price Setting
Slider to set the price any products are sold at. Clamped between the min and max price for the ware.
Intermediate Resource Buying Price Limit
Slider to set the price any intermediate products are brought/sold at. Clamped between the min and max price for the ware.
Primary Resource Buying Price Limit
Slider to set the price any resources are brought at. Clamped between the min and max price for the ware.
Add to Production Queue (PHQ only)
Remove from Production Queue (PHQ only)
Add to Reverse Engineering Queue (PHQ only)
Remove from Engineering Queue (PHQ only)
Add to Repair Queue (PHQ only)
Remove from Queue (PHQ only)
Add to Recyce Queue (PHQ only)
Remove from Queue (PHQ only)
Spray Shop (PHQ only)
Save Loadouts (PHQ only)
Fund Transfer
Allows the manual transfer of credits between the player account and the station/complex account
Advanced Parameters
Maximum Jumps
Maximum number of sectors away from the station/complex sector commercial agents working for the station/complex will trade in
Other races can trade with this station
Toggles if NPC traders can buy/sell wares at the station
Defaut is Yes
Should be set to No if the station/complex is not there to sell wares to NPC traders for reputation or is an equipment or trading dock
Intermediate Product Trading
Toggles if the complex will trade intermediate products.
As well designed complexes have intermediates in equilibrium this should be set to No.
Trade
NPC stations only
Opens the menu for buying and selling wares traded at the station. Resources will only be brought and products will only be sold
Batering
Allows batering with NPC traders docked at the station. Potentially allows good deals early on if there are any NPC ships docked.
Some deals are locked by Race Rank requirements.
Wildfire Missiles are commonly requested
Comms
See Comms of the station
Landed Ships
List of ships landed at the station. Commands can be given to player owned ships from this menu
Owned Ships
Ships that have the stations et as their home base. Useful for locating Atmospheric Lifters and ships belonging to Military Outposts and Corporate Headquarters. Requires an Advanced Satellite in the sector to get details of the ship locations.
Gate Realignment (Xenon HUB only)
Requirements to link gates
Needed Energy Cells
Time Unit Next Realignment
Gates Available
Advanced
Command Console
Report Inbound Ships
Player owned stations only
Creates a log message listing all ships with the station/complex as the target destination
Useful if a military strike is suspected
Auto money transfer to player account
Player owned stations only
Sets the threshold to automatically transfer excess funds from the station account into the player account
300-500k is a good number
Trade barrier (Commercial Agent)
Administration (Commercial Agent)
Station Settings
Station Status
Money Transfer
Pricing
Pricing (Activated/Disabled)
Restore Pricing
Wares
Complex Settings
Products
Intermetdiate Products
Resources
Factories
Dock Ware Manager
Add ware
Wares
Rename
Renames the station/complex
Useful if the player has trouble remembering what a complex makes
Graphs
Stock
Shows a graph of how the station stock of resources, intermediates and products has changed over time since construction
Station Profitability
Shows how much profit the station has made over time since construction
Locate In Sector Map
Opens the sector map and selects the station docked at.
Display On Monitor
Displays the ship on the left or right monitor.
Undock
Only available if docked at a station. Undocks from the station.
Eject From Ship
Ejects the player controlled Astronaut ship type Space Suit from the ship being currently flown. Used for claiming abandoned ships without a System Override Software, changing ships in space without a Transporter Device and repairing ships with the Repair Laser built into the space suit.
Has a limited oxygen supply of 120 minutes after which it self destructs.
Only use if there are no hostiles nearby
Incoming Message
Latest unread message from plots, missions, ships and Marine/Mercenary training sessions.
Options
Graphics
Fast Menu Control
Gamma
Field Of View
Postproccess Filter
View Distance
Audio
Volume: Effects
Volume: Music
Volume: Voice
Subtitles
Verbose Ship Computer
Disable Station Announcements
Gameplay
Seta Factor
Gravidar View Range
Default External View Mode
Full Screen
Left Monitor
Watch
Auto Target
Auto Missile
Right Monitor
Watch
Auto Target
Auto Missile
Autosave In Station
Show Warp Tunnel
Confirmation On Eject
Disable War Reports
Numerical shield/hull display
Hide Sidebar in Cursor Follow Mode
Run Game In Background
Turret Command Configuration
Turret: Attack My Enemies
Turret: Attack Enemies
Turret: Protect Ship
Turret: Attack My Target
Turret: Missiles Only
Turret: Missile Defence
Turret: Attack Fighters
Turret: Attack Capitals
Turret Command: Alpha
Turret Command: Beta
Turret Command: Gamma
reset to defaut values
Target Selection Priorities
Available priorities
Attack my cockpit target (personal ship)
Attack my cockpit target (all ships)
Attack any enemies
Attack any enemies while the ship is using an attack command
Attack capital ships (M6 and bigger)
Attack capital ships (M7 and bigger)
Attack Fighters
Protect ship. Attack anything that attacks it.
Missile Defence
Automatic Laser Switching
Capital ships may switch lasers
All ships may switch lasers
Disabled
Ship equipment required
Satellite Early Warning Network
Detect Ships
Disabled
All ships
Fighters only
Fighters and Capital Ships
Capital Ships Only
Capital Ships Only, excluding M6
Message Type
Vocal
Message
Vocal + Log
Warning Time in minutes
Detect Claimable Ships
Wing Protection
SEWN Enabled satellites
Remove all satellites From Network
list of satellites
Add satellites
Add All satellites to Network
list of satellites
Controls
Profiles
Controls
Game
Interface
(WIP)
Pause Game
Pauses the game. Pressing any button/key resumes play
Save Game
Saves the current playthrough to slot 1-10. Only able to be performed when docked unless Salvage Insurance is purchased. Saving in space will consume 1 Salvage Insurance.
Saves are stored under Documents>Egosoft>X3AP>save by default
Load Game
Loads from a previous save. All unsaved progress is lost.
Quit Game
Exits to the main menu. All unsaved progress is lost.
Save & Quit Game (Dead Is Dead mode only)
Requires connection to Steam. Saves the game to the DID slot before exiting even if in space.
Exchanging Ships and Wares
How to exchange ships and wares is one of the common questions new players have. Early on the player will not yet own a Transporter Device so will have click the Eject From Ship button and fly close to the other player owned ship in the Astronaut ship type Space Suit before targeting it and selecting Enter Ship. Alternatively both the player ship and other player owned ship can be docked at the same station and the player ship changed under Station>Landed Ships>(name of the other player owned ship)>Advanced>Change Ship. The exchange of wares can also be performed when two player owned ships are docked at the same station using Station>Landed Ships>(name of the other player owned ship)>Advanced>Freight Exchange to exchange with the player ship or Station>Landed Ships>(name of the other player owned ship)>Advanced>Freight Exchange With>(name of another player owned ship) to exchange between two player owned ships which are not the player ship. Once a Freight Drone has been purchased wares can be exchanged in space by either ejecting the Freight Drone and ordering it to (WIP) or keeping it in the freight and using the Autopilot>Command Console>Trade>Transfer Freight via Drones command (requires Trade Command Software MKII). If a Transporter Device is installed on one of the two ship the two ships need to fly within 4.5km of each other before the Change Ship and Freight Exchange or Freight Exchange With options appear under the Advanced menu of the Autopilot or Target menues. If one of the ships has a hanger able to dock the other ship, freight and the player ship can be changed under the Landed Ships menu while if the player ship is the one docking the ship is automatically changed to the player owned ship docked at.
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Argon: Omicron Lyrae is safe to salvage in/Early access to Firestorm Torpedoes, PRGs and Mass Drivers/Early access to Space Fuel Distilleries/Argon corporation headquarters and research stations have a broad variety of equipment for ships/Home Of Light is a good sector to train Universal Traders
Often have civilian TLs in poorly defended sectors/The large number of Argon corporations mean an equally large number of traders to plunder/Albion sectors have a poor RR response and isolated ships to cap/High density of equipment docks to loot
Boron: Early access to Ion Disrupters and Recon Drone Construction Facility/Cheap stations for converting Silicon into Energy Cells
TS and most TP ships are unarmed and have a 1.5% higher bail chance than other races/Capital ships have blind spots/Only have 1 RR M1
Goner: Hard to regain Race Rank if very hostile/Have very little worth taking
Completely defenceless
Paranid: Have the monopoly on Tractor Beams and Huricane Missiles/PSGs are lethal to use but make boarding harder/TS ships are cheap
Paranid ships often traverse across Pirate owned sectors like Desecrated Skies and Hatikvah's Faith/Boarded Hyperion Vanguards are good ships to own and sell for alot/Perpetual Sin has constant RR ships but no other military presence/All Paranid sectors are close to a neutral sector from which to operate
Split: Have the monopoly on Turbo Booster equipment/Early access to Mass Drivers, ISRs, PBEs, Thunderbolt Missiles and Tornado Missiles/Ships are low cost, high speed and deal good damage/The constant Xenon activity in Zyarth's Dominion makes reputation manipulation easy
Ships have low shielding and hull/Strongarms has alot of weapons dealer TMs to board/Pteranodons are poorly equipped and isolated/RR fleet is usually busy in Zyarth's Dominion
Teladi: Early access to Bliss Places/Early Access to EBCs, Gauss Cannon, FAA and Typhoon Missiles/Teladi Stock Exchanges are easy to unlock and the most profitable/One of the two suppliers of Trade Command Software MK3, Explorer Command Software and Carrier Command Software
Ships have poor mobility, carry alot of freight and many have poor laser regeneration/RR fleet is usually busy in Grand Exchange or Ceo's Wellspring/Few Military Outposts to launch counter attacks
Terran: Springblossom and Hayabusas are very effective traders/Large M7M fleets patroling keep trouble out/Economy is highly dependent on the player
Poor RR response/Most Terran lasers have a slow projectile speed making them easy to dodge in the player ship/Water Purification civilian TS ships have extremely low morale/Easier access to Aldrin laser factories/Valhallas sell for over 160 million credits and other Terran capital ships are also high value
Pirate: Have the monopoly on Software Signature Scrambler and System Override Software equipment/Generate alot of salvage when following patrols/Buy alot of illegals/Early Access to IBLs and PBGs/Avoid having player owned Universal Traders being harassed/Cheaper station hacks
Ships are usually poorly equipped and have inferior stats/Outside Mercenaries Rift wings are seperarated and in small numbers/Often distracted by other opponents/Often the target of Fight type random missions/Most races consider Pirates their enemy/Offer minimal retaliation
Yaki: Economy is highly dependent on the player/Early Access to IBLs/Have the monopoly on IBL and PBG Forges and sell other illegals stations if sided with during Shady Business/Sectors are rich in resources
Lots of weak and overpriced boardable ships that are poorly defended over a span of 3 sectors/Ships are usually poorly equipped and have inferior stats/Offer minimal retaliation
Early game
ExplorationExploration
The X-Universe is a big place consisting of 241 sectors. What sector the game starts in is starting scenario dependent and in the case of the Lost Lar, Poisoned Paranid and Unholy Traitor may not be friendly. The starting sector will have a defined number of stations of a limited variety which will not sell certain wares and pieces of equipment and only may present a limited number of periodic trade opportunities. As the player begins with low Race Ranks (Argon Peacekeeper excepted) there is only a low spawn chance for random missions. These factors mean the player will need to visit other sectors to find safety, increase the number of trade and shopping opportunities and to spawn new random missions. Some sectors may even offer opportunities for construction, salvage and piracy. The Universe Map under the Navigation menu will only show sectors that have been previously visited. To go to a new sector requires the player ship to fly through a Jump Gate or Transorbital Accelerator or order another player owned ship to do so using the Fly Through Gate command of the Explorer Command Software. When in a new sector fly within scanner range of any stations and Jump Gates that look interesting to get them on the map. Once the player has additional ships with the Explorer Command Software this process can be automated using the Map Sector command.
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As the M6 of the player (Terran Commander starting ship included) is not fully equipped it is recommended to carry 2-10 Fighter Drone Mk1 from capped TS ships to help keep the shields of target M6s low if the shields of the player ship take too much damage. Avoid engaging large military patrols with M8s for now and preferably pick targets with only 4-6 escorts. At 4km range use the Freight Scanner on the target ship to look for any anti-boarding equipment before engaging the escort ships and retreating when they begin to follow the player ship using the turbo booster to outspeed them. As usual segregate the opponents by their speed and then pick off the closest. As M6s have superior laser energy reload rates and shield power generators compared to M4 and M3 ships the player will be at an advantage. When engaging the target M6 strafe with WASD to adoid avoid fire before using the turbo booster to slip below it and start shooting the shield, preferably with PBGs. Once the shield is low switch to IDs and keep attacking until the anti-boarding equipment is destoryed destroyed before retreating to 4km range using the turbo booster. If the target has no anti-boarding equipment to begin with the IDs do not need to be used. Save and then turn around and fly towards the target using the Hepts to keep the shields low while strafing before using the turbo booster at 1km range to fly underneath it. Select the Launch Marines command on the target just as it passes out of view overhead and then eject 2-3 fighter drones from the freight. Try to keep on the rear of the target however if sheilds are low the player will have to pull back to a safe distance and rely on the fighter drones to keep the shields down. Once the marines have breached the hull withdraw to 4km range using the turbo booster and fly away from the target. At the end of deck 3 save again so that the loot can be rerolled if needed. If the target ship belongs to a major rance and is in one of their sectors it is recommended to reload until you obtain the ship with a Jumpdrive (if the player has not destroyed it using Ion Disrupters) or keep reloading until the ship is obtained with many weapons or shields. 200MJ shields followed by CIGs and IPGs have priority since the player ship probably needs the extra shields to increase durability, CIGs can be worth over half the value of the ship and IPGs are useful for future boarding operations. Once wares and equipment have been transfered off the captured ship the player can sell it for 2-4 million credits (it is optional if the player wants to repair the hull using the repair laser for extra profit).
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The Heavy Centaur Prototype is not only fast at 156m/s and has 800MJ shielding but can equip PBGs, CIGs, IPGs, HEPTs, PRGs and PBEs on all Laser slots. This makes it extremely versatile for bail capping smaller ships, boarding similar size ships and dueling capital ships. For bail capping have PBEs on the main with PRGs/HEPTs on the turrets, for boarding TM, M6 and M7M have 3 CIG and 3 IPG on main with PRGs/HEPTs on the turrets and 6 spare IDs for anti-boarding equipment and Flail Barrage missiles and for engaging capital ships have 2 IPGs on the rear and one of the side turrets, 2 CIGs on the other side turret and 6 IDs on the main weapons with 6 spare HEPTs for clearing escorts/missiles if needed. With this ship the player can easily take on entire military patrols. Use Advanced Satellites set to use the Satellite Early Warning Network to detect when a hostile capital ship containing military patrol is approaching a Jump Gate. When the lead target ship has gone through jump to the sector it was previously in and focus on the tailing M8 escorts. Focus on the missiles they launch until the M8 is in weapon range before attacking it. With luck the M8 will shoot a missile that will be hit by the incoming fire wiping it and nearby escort ships out. The player can then eliminate any remaining escorts in the sector before pursuing the target ship as has been done with previous targets. Once the first generation of boarding crew have finished their retraining swap them back in letting the second generation train to 80 Mechanical and 66 Hacking skill and start looking for an M7M to board. Make sure the boarding crew has at least 525-710 combined Fight skill (trained by boarding more TMs and M6s). Any M7M is better than having none however the Split Cobra is preferable due to it having a rear turret and good speed. Good sectors to find Cobras are Contorted Dominion, Ghinn's Escape and Rhonkar's Might. When capping M7Ms there are two strategies where the player uses a Kestrel series ship to outspeed the missiles fired until they expire (slow) or to use an M6 to intercept them head on (requires skill). Using a Heavy Centaur prototype go with 3 Cigs and 3 IPGs in the main laser slots and IDs in the turrets. Approach the target and if hostile it will start barraging missiles at the player ship when within 30km range, otherwwise otherwise use missiles to get it to go hostile, and keep at maximum range with a Jump Gate to the rear of the player ship. Stop moving and focus on intercepting the Hammer Heavy Torpedoes with the main lasers until it runs out and starts spamming Flail Barrage Missiles. Turn around and use the turbo booster to head to the nearest Jump Gate but wait before going through until the incoming missiles are nearly hitting the player ship. When the player ship passes through the jump gate any Flail Barrage Missiles in flight will despawn allowing the player to go back in to trick the M7M into wasting more missiles. Once the M7M has run out of missiles go in close and start shooting the shields while avoiding the rear turret. As usual use IDs to remove any anti-boarding equipment, save before launching the marines (especially if the 4 have <55 Mechanical and save again to roll for the 1GJ shields (worth 299,168 credits each) and the Jump Drive (if possible) before jumping it to safety and getting a spare Jump Drive and Energy Cells from the supporting TM if necessary. If targeting a military M7M the proceedure is the same except it is recommended to cut it off from escorting M8s or the player will have to spend more time intercepting their missiles as well before the escorts can be taken out and boarding can begin. Launching Marines/Mercenaries from an M7M using Boarding Pods doubles their effective Mechanical skill making Hull Polarization Devices less problematic and allowing them to board larger ships with less skill. Once the M7M is repaired and operational transfer the boarding crew back to it if necessary and give it at least 2 Boarding Pods (a stock of 20 is recommended) and 1.5k Energy Cells. With the M7M as a support ship and >40 Mechanical skill the player can now board TL ships.
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At the start of the game the player would have had to fight for survival against hostile races (especially major races), being persecuted across space, and slowly build up their power to take on isolated targets and eventually entire military patrols. Now that the player has constructed a large manufacturing base for shields, lasers, missiles and ships and amassed a substantial fleet it is time for revenge. It is not possible to fully erradicate a race since some ships and docks will periodically respawn but it is possible to keep them fully supressed and occupy their sectors. Of the lesser races the Pirates and Yaki are relatively easy to supress due to the small number of sectors they control and the limited number of capital ships they possess along with a lack of M7Ms while the Xenon are tougher due to large numbers of decoying fighters potentially allowing Xenon Is to get off 1-3 Firestorm missile barrages if not killed quickly. Major races have rapid response fleets of 2 M2s, 2 M1s (Boron only have onebut one but the wings tend to be full of M3s with Hammerhead Missiles), 2 M7s (usually spawn as M7Ms) and 6 M6s which can jump to any gate, orbital accelerator or the centre of the sector and like to attack together. The Terrans are the hardest race to conquer because they have multiple wings of Skirnirs patrolling their sectors.
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Congratulations you have conquered the X-Universe.
Achievements (WIP)